This article is part of a series of stories stemming from a lengthy interview with Colorado College coach Kris Mayotte in mid-June.
Colorado College hockey coach Kris Mayotte is excited about the future, calling the incoming class of Tigers a “top-10 class in the country.”
However, it’s difficult to ignore the talent that walked out of the CC locker room this offseason through one path or another.
CC lost 14 members of its 27-man roster from the 2024-2025 season.
From forwards such as Noah Laba, Zaccharya Wisdom and Gleb Veremyev to defenseman Ethan Straky, like Laba an assistant captain, the Tigers lost players who accounted for significant ice time last season. They’re players who learned valuable lessons from a tough season and whose knowledge the Tigers won’t be able to draw from moving forward.
However, Mayotte believes the experience has brought those who remain closer.
“You don’t want to just dismiss it and say, ‘Oh that’s just what college athletics is these days’ and it certainly is disappointing. We always recruit players with a long-term vision in mind and a belief in what they can become in mind,” Mayotte said of losing players to the transfer portal. “To lose guys that we relied on in those moments, it’s really disappointing.
“But again, you really work to keep them here. You work to make the experience what they want it to be and what it should be. And what I think we’ve learned though is when players leave, it’s not an indictment on a program. It’s kind of a landscape.
“Specifically, the guys who have stayed, every single one of them was presented with an opportunity to go somewhere else through some avenue or another. So the guys that stayed, they’re here for a reason and a lot of it is because of each other, like their care for each other and their belief in one another. I think even though we lost some guys, the group that is still here is probably closer than they would have been had all those guys stayed. So I think it’s still going to end up being a benefit for us and something we can lean on.”
To recap, the Tigers graduated captain Stanley Cooley, wingers Tyler Coffey, Tommy Middleton and Chase McLane as well as defenseman Ty Gallagher and goaltender Henry Wilder.
Laba, a junior who was the team’s top-line center, signed a pro contract with the New York Rangers shortly after the season. New York selected Laba in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL Draft.
Veremyev signed with the New York Islanders, and Gallagher signed with the Providence Bruins.
The Tigers also lost six players to the transfer portal, most notably Wisdom, who was a rising junior and a top-line winger drafted by the Seattle Kraken in the seventh round in 2023. Other outgoing transfers included rising junior defenseman Brady Cleveland (Detroit Red Wings), rising sophomore goaltender Carsen Musser (Utah Mammoth), rising senior winger Ryan Beck, and rising junior defenseman Tyler Dunbar.
But it’s the transfer of Straky to Ohio State that may raise some eyebrows. The rising senior was the only remaining skater who wore a letter for CC last season after the departures of Cooley and Laba. An assistant captain last season, he would have been the presumptive favorite to wear the “C” this year. However, instead of coming back to Robson Arena for his final season, Straky will skate for the Buckeyes this fall.
“He was one of the first guys we recruited. We recruited him in the summer after we got the job here. And he’s a worker, he’s competitive. We obviously leaned on him in those roles, but these guys have a lot of external influences,” Mayotte said. “It’s not just their experience here. It’s people’s perception of their experience here on the outside sometimes.”
The Tigers will select new captains this season and when asked who would likely step up to fill leadership roles, Mayotte said it’s up to the players to decide.
“One thing about leadership is if I say, ‘Oh, they do everything right from my eyes,’ that’s one thing, but if the guys aren’t willing to follow that person, then they’re not a leader,” he said. “To be the captain of a program, you have to be able to see the big picture … we can all see the points and the goals and that. But there’s so much more that goes into being a captain of a college program.”
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